This disclosure relates to a gas turbine engine component for high-temperature use. More particularly, the disclosure relates to a bonding process for securing a gas turbine engine ceramic component to a metal component. The metal alloy component is attached to adjacent structure. The bonding material accommodates differentials in coefficients of thermal expansion and elasticity between the ceramic and metallic components.
Gas turbine engines typically include a compressor section, a combustor section and a turbine section. During operation, air is pressurized in the compressor section and is mixed with fuel and burned in the combustor section to generate hot combustion gases. The hot combustion gases are communicated through the turbine section, which extracts energy from the hot combustion gases to power the compressor section and other gas turbine engine loads.
Gas turbine engines produce extremely hot gases. One method to make engines more efficient is to increase the temperatures at which the engine operates. However, gas temperatures within the engine are limited so as to not exceed the capabilities of the engine component materials.
Without active cooling, exotic metallic alloys cannot withstand some of the extreme temperatures within the engine. Engine operating efficiency may be improved by reducing or eliminating this cooling requirement. To this end, ceramic-based materials, such as ceramic matrix composites (CMC), are used within the gas turbine engine gas flow path to enable higher temperatures with reduced cooling requirements. Typically, ceramic components must be secured to adjacent metallic structures. It is difficult to attach the dissimilar materials of the ceramic component and the metallic support structure due to the different rates of thermal expansion and ductility. Ceramic components are relatively low strength compared to metals, such that typical attachment configurations cannot be used.